MOTHER

For nine long months

I bubbled in your womb

You endured a lot of pain

All because of me

You carried a burden

Of raising me.

Thank you so much

For loving me

For not aborting me

For not throwing me on a rubbish skip

Like some harsh parents

Who do not have feelings.

Oh mother, you’re an angel.

You’re the glamorous spirit of our home

The charm of your love is there

One knows the joy of your presence

And your ever tender care.

I will always thank God

For a mother

Whose Christian love and grace

Made our precious little home

Such a happy place.

You’re without doubt, certainly,

Definitely and abso-flippin’-lutely

The best mum of all time.

Thank you for all your

Love, care and support.

You will always be

The world’s greatest.

~ Imelda Mirembe ~

IT’S RAINING

I lie on my bed

With a swarm of thoughts and questions

In my mind.

And I can hear the skies

Roaring right outside.

And the rains falling on the roof

Like thunderous footsteps

Of a regiment of soldiers matching in unison.

Questions run through my mind

Questions like –

How is he?

Where is he?

Who is he with?

Why isn’t he picking?

What is he up to?

When will he call?

I pick up the phone

And scroll down to that one name

That is always stuck in my mind.

It takes about five seconds

Before the phone can finally go through.

Krrh…… krrh…… krrh…..

My heart throbs with excitement

As I await the sound of his mellow voice.

The excitement halts

As I slumber into sorrow

At the sound of…

“Sorry, the subscriber you have called does not answer,

Please try again later”

The rains outside increase

As though they want to help me

Drown my tears or better still

Wash them away

I lay on my bed

In the cold.

It’s raining outside

And in my heart too

But there is only one reality,

He isn’t here anymore.

~ Imelda Mirembe ~

FORGIVE ME MY CHILDREN

Forgive me my children

For raping your future.

I have bequeathed to you

Dilapidated infrastructures.

The sorry state of the environment

By unfettered cutting of trees

Emitting tones of greenhouse gases.

I have violated the same sacred environment

Through my constant wars.

Forgive me my children

For shamelessly defiling and raping

The same principles that were

Fundamental to the change of this country.

I have defiled the most important

Baby-clause of term limits in the constitution.

I have failed to promote democracy

And the rule of law.

I have ushered in a culture of corruption

I have sought selfishness through

The use of my country’s resources

Without paying attention to the

Common good and social infrastructure.

Forgive me my children

For being such a bad elder.

My children remember this clearly;

No one is going to get you out of

The pit in which I have dropped you.

No one is going to untie your bootstraps.

I am no Moses to lead you

Out of the wilderness

Nor Noah to build you an ark.

I have entered a deep slumber

Of no change and I am at a point

Of no return; because I have been

Incapacitated by the no-change dictum

That has gone on for more than two decades.

Forgive me my children

For you are the ones to reboot the

Hibernating slumbering hard disk

Of this country.

I hand you the book and pen

For my time for writing is up.

I ask you to re-write in this book

And to write only what you would

Love to read later.

What I have written breaks my heart

At the slightest thought of opening a page

I burn with guilt and remorse

And I kindly ask you my children

To please forgive me.

~ Imelda Mirembe ~

AN ODYSSEY AROUND THE CITY

I stroll through the city

And I’m marveled at what

My eyes devour.

The roads are dappled with large stars.

Oh my! I never saw stars so close,

So beautiful.

The stars are gargantuan medals

That gallantly sit on the roads

Their sight alone is a breathtaking panorama.

The tourists are so many

Only that revenue

Has not been collected.

Following a heavy downpour

The beautiful stars are flooded.

Everyone flounders to find

Their way through the oceans.

Such times make a boat ride very ideal

Only that there are no boats readily available.

These beautiful stars have

Reduced the risk of accidents.

They slow cars down and

Even work better than speed bumps.

The roadsides are splendidly decorated

With aromatic and odorous flowers.

It would really break my heart

If KCC took these flowers away.

I greatly applaud our leaders

For their efficiency and accountability,

For their contribution towards

The development of this great nation.

For if it weren’t for them

I would never have enjoyed

My odyssey around the city.

~ Imelda Mirembe ~

MAY BE

May be

I shall stare at the sun going to sleep

Without having mutilated or killed anyone.

May be

The cold hearths shall one day have fire

And we’ll sit around it as a family again.

May be

Before my ears have gone deaf

I shall hear the trombone

Sounding the end of the plague.

May be

The dove will yet bear a sacred branch

To declare the return of peace and stability.

~ Imelda Mirembe ~